Virtual

I have been thinking lately. When Eliot says,

 “April is the cruellest month, breeding 

Lilacs out of  the dead land,  mixing 

Memory and desire, stirring 

Dull roots with spring rain."

he isn’t wrong at all. Look at April 2020 breeding direness. Our memory of everything hunky dory is mixing with our desire to regain our older life back. The spring rain is stirring up our vulnerabilities and exposing us to new fatalities. Sadly everything is reduced to a virtual reality. Meetings are virtual, classrooms are virtual, church services and temple aratis are virtual, expressing  affection is virtual. We are zooming and live streaming like never before.We are in the age of physical distancing and social isolation to survive the virus. This isn’t a regular human response unless you are in solitary confinement atoning for a sin. Maybe we all are for our collective sins as part of the human race.

 

Despite the encircling gloom of becoming somewhat dehumanized, I saw these pink spring blossoms while taking a walk in the Hidden Lake area near my home and fell head over heels in love with them. Fortunately they are not virtual. They are blooming bursting with hope. Craving for a hug,  I hugged the tree instead and kissed the pink flowers in my hand because in this new reality we are allowed to do just that. I opened my window to let their color seep into my soul and spread their wings like a bird taking flight. It wasn’t a virtual feeling, it was real because I started  humming a tune momentarily forgetting the crisis around. Such  healing that is completely free of the hefty charges of a professional therapist enveloped me with a sense of cool quiet. So comforting.

I saw my neighbor walk her dog right then. Not an usual sight at all. But what compelled me to stop and watch was how she took Lou Lou to the empty park inside the development and played fetch with her pet.  She had a ball and a twig in her hand and every time Lou Lou brought it back to Meg, she kept hugging her and patting her paws and showering her with kisses while Lou Lou looked at her with the most loving eyes. I hadn’t seen Meg kiss Lou Lou so often ever before and we’ve been neighbors for the last two decades almost. She was probably answering a deep seated human need in her for togetherness. When Meg saw me watching from what seemed more than 60 feet away, she first thought of coming close to shake my hands, then backed away sending a ❤️  sign my way and shook Lou Lou’s paws again. I got the hint, took off my mask and smiled my biggest smile hoping she’d understand how much I wanted to hug her too. I think we succeeded in communicating our affection for each other virtually  through signs. But her nearness to Lou Lou both physical and emotional was real, not virtual in the least. She has survived cancer; she will hopefully survive this isolation as well with Lou Lou beside her.

We’ve suddenly become more sensitive to our surroundings. I marveled at a forwarded picture that my friend sent me of a saffron sunset on a spring evening. Her son, a high school junior, took the picture.  He is probably looking out the window more often these days with virtual classrooms covering only a fraction of his normal school hours. He has a lot of time hanging on his hands now with soccer(contact sport) taking a backseat for the time being. He is using new eyes now to admire a beautiful twilight. This appreciation and acknowledgement is real, not virtual, because he catalyzed his mother’s vision as well. Both of them saw the sundown together. This is not in any sense virtual because the photograph capturing a fleeting sensation is real and can be admired by everyone. Nature can’t be locked down.

We must give thanks for all these wonderful daily experiences that normally we have little time to dwell on. A break from our hyper rushed schedules every single day suddenly arrested is giving us time to acknowledge our real environment and a space for introspection. I welcome this but I am also mindful of the horrific viral situation around. So I am in a meditative mood to welcome healing everywhere. Hope we will emerge from this crisis with the wisdom to be more compassionate and caring of the universe of which we are such a minuscule part. God bless!